Text extracted via OCR from the original document. May contain errors from the scanning process.
understanding depended entirely on past
experiences of our own intentions and
actions, there might be much more
misunderstanding and cynicism in the
world. However, the capacity to reason,
hypothesize, and model possible futures
may increase social understanding
beyond the anchor of purely egocentric
perspective. We can conceive of
alternatives to our own goals and
motives and relate those alternatives to
the actions we observe. To some extent,
this process might also involve the motor
system by mentally simulating actions
and anticipated responses. By imagining
how we might act in some situation to
achieve a goal or the alternative ways we
may act given some intention, it may be
possible to go beyond the limits of our
own experience. Such constructive
imagery may well depend on the motor
system, along with other neural systems,
but currently there is no scientific
evidence that such a system might be
linked with the operation of mirror
neurons.
Conclusion
We are equipped to understand
the world around us by relating what we
perceive to our own experiences. With
respect to actions in particular, our
brains have specialized circuitry to relate
previously executed actions to newly
perceived ones, possibly by performing
an internal (imagined) simulation of
them. There is evidence too that we
might understand the emotional states of
others by a similar kind of process,
whereby our brains activate circuits for
experiencing the emotion as a way to
understand that emotion in others. These
brain mechanisms might also apply (to a
greater or lesser degree) when we try to
understand actions or feelings by non-
human animals or even inanimate
entities. This could be a partial
Page |82
biological explanation of
anthropomorphism, as discussed by
Epley and Gilpin. Of course as humans
we have the ability to go beyond these
strict egocentric limitations and
recognize and respond to our social
connections more explicitly. This ability
to go beyond the more basic grounding
of the way we understand others may
subserve part of the goal of some
religions, discussed by Kathryn Tanner,
in fostering a more abstract view of our
connection to others. While a mirror
neuron system might help form the basis
for some aspects of social understanding,
there may well be other invisible forces
at work supported by these and other
neural systems in our social brain.
References
1. Hasson, U., Nusbaum, H. C., & Small, S. L.
(2009). Task-dependent organization of
brain regions active during rest. Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences of the
United States of America, 106(26), 10841-
10846.
2. Dewey, J. (1903). Democracy in Education.
The Elementary School Teacher, 4(4), 193-
204.
3. Gallese, V., Fadiga, L., Fogassi, L.,
& Rizzolatti, G. (1996). Action
recognition in the premotor cortex.
Brain, 119 ( Pt 2), 593-609.
4. lacoboni, M., Woods, R. P., Brass,
M., Bekkering, H., Mazziotta, J. C.,
& Rizzolatti, G. (1999). Cortical
mechanisms of human imitation.
Science, 286(5449), 2526-2528.
5. Iacoboni, M., Molnar-Szakacs, I.,
Gallese, V., Buccino, G., Mazziotta,
J.C., & Rizzolatti, G. (2005).
Grasping the intentions of others
with one's own mirror neuron
system. PLoS Biology, 3, 529-535.
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_021328